Experts - political science

Samuel Abrahám

PhD, studied Political Science and Political Philosophy at the University of Toronto and the Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada. At the latter one he obtained his doctorate. Since 1996 he is the publisher and editor-in-chief of Kritika & Kontext and during 1996-2006 he founded and directed the educational institution Society for Higher Learning based in Bratislava. During 1996-2001 he was a representative of the Foundation Project on Ethnic Relations (PER) in Slovakia, based in Princeton, U.S., specializing in inter-ethnic conflicts. He teaches political science at the Comenius University in Bratislava. Author of the book An Attemptto Analyze Slovak Society. Regularly publishes articles in Slovak and English magazines on the subjects of Slovak politics, the EU, as well as political theory. Member of the advisory board of Eurozine – an online magazine providing a network of European Cultural journals. Director of Bratislava Institute of Humanism, a nonprofit organization. Since June 2006 he is rector and lecturer of Bratislava International School of Liberal Arts (BISLA).

Henryk Bątkiewicz

He holds a PhD degree in Political Sciences. His doctoral thesis was awarded the prize by the Polish Institute of International Affairs. Worked, among others, as a head teacher and as a teacher in a school and in an infant school at the Institute of Children's Diseases in Cracow. In 1990 worked in the Special Schooling Centre at the University Children's Hospital. Recently he has taught at the Brother Albert Memorial College for Social Workers. Since January 2004 Deputy Mayor of the City of Cracow, exercises general supervision over education, culture activities and preservation of the City’s historical monuments.

Vít Borčany

Project Coordinator in the Association for International Affairs where he started working in 2013. Previously, he worked as a Research Assistant at the Institute of International Relations (2013) and at the Foreign Affairs Department of the Office of the President of the Republic (2012). He currently finishes his International Relations studies and continues in Political Science at the Masaryk University. Vít is mainly focused on Central European politics.

Ol’ga Gyárfášová

Senior research fellow and a program director in Institute for Public Affairs, Bratislava, Slovakia. Projects on social and political climate, views on integration and relevant social issues. Member of the executive committee of the Slovak Political Science Association, Member of Board of Trustees of the Foundation SPACE (Social Policy Analysis Center) and of the Institute for Public Affairs. Since 1998 - lecturer at the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Arts, Comenius University. Since 1999 – lecturer at the Center for European Studies, Comenius University.

Helga Hirsch

Studied German Philology and Political Science at the Free University in Berlin. From 1989 to 1995, worked as a correspondent for the German weekly Die Zeit in Warsaw and since 1996 has been active as a freelance journalist for various newspapers, television and radio broadcasters. Author of books: Zemsta ofiar (Victims' revenge) and Nie mam keine buty(I have keine shoes).

Michael J. Inacker

Vice-President of the Board, Director for Policy and Foreign Affairs of DaimlerChrysler in Stuttgart (Germany). Studied Political Sciences, Public Law as well as Medieval and Contemporary History at the University of Bonn and at the Center for International and Strategic Affairs (CISA) at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Former editor of: WELT am SONNTAG, Hamburg; Rheinischer Merkur, Bonn and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Berlin. Head of the Berlin offices of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung and Die WELT. Author of several books (i.e. The German role during the Gulf-war 1991 and The relationship between church and democracy in Germany) and publications regarding economic and foreign affairs. The latest one is an essay on the relationship between politics and new economy. Award Winner 2002 for “creative branding of new terms” of the German publishing and dictionary group Klett/Pons in Stuttgart.

Marta Kahancova

Marta Kahancova (1977) studied international economic relations and economic diplomacy at the University of Economics in Bratislava. Later she obtained her MA in Political Science after completing her studies at the Central European University in Budapest in 2002. Marta joined the ASSR in 2002 as a pre-dissertation student and in 2003 as a PhD student, working on a thesis titled Western Multinationals and the European Diversity: Shaping the Convergence of Employment Practices and Industrial Relations. The project explains why there are striking differences in employment practices across several subsidiaries of a Dutch multinational firm located in Western and Eastern Europe, whereas these differences do not necessarily mean East-West stereotypes. From January to December 2006 Marta was a visiting PhD student at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies in Cologne, Germany. She taught Employment Relations and Organizational Change at the University of Amsterdam’s International School for Humanities and Social Sciences.

Andrzej Kapiszewski

Professor of sociology and political science at the Jagiellonian University, lecturer at the Diplomatic Academy at Warsaw. Former visiting professor at Stanford University and many other foreign universities. Between 1991-1997 in diplomatic service - the Ambassador of the Republic of Poland in the Persian Gulf countries. Author of numerous academic books and articles. Expert in ethnic and national issues, especially in East-West relations and Middle East affairs. He died in Krakow in 2007.

Bernd Karwen

Born in w Elmshorn. Studied Polish Language, Political Sciences and German as a Foreign Language at the University of Leipzig. Since 1999 has worked in the Polish Institute in Leipzig, where he is responsible for promoting Polish literature. Since 2001 PhD student at the University of Leipzig, also works as a translator.

Jana Kavková

Jana SmiggelKavkovás studied Political Science in Leiden, The Netherlands. She has been working in the field of gender equality since 2005. As a member and later chair of Commission on Equal Representation of Women and Men in Politics, she cooperated on drafting a law proposal introducing quotas. In 2010 Forum 50 % ran a successful campaign to support women in the elections resulting in election of 14 women MPs by using preferential votes. Jana is member of Council for Equal Opportunities of Women and Men of the Government and board member of European Women´s Lobby.